


infinite possibilities

by rayleigh



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, where riverdale is not a murder town
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-31
Updated: 2018-07-31
Packaged: 2019-06-19 07:37:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15505536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rayleigh/pseuds/rayleigh
Summary: "gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love." -albert einstein—in which everyone is in love with betty cooper who is so, so oblivious. multichapter short.





	infinite possibilities

**Author's Note:**

> prompt sent to me through tumblr on aug 1, 2017

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Betty was okay with good enough. Sure, she dreamt about the universe and all the wonders outside of the small city, but she’s not a kid anymore, and dreams just simply aren’t reality. Then this girl comes along, and she’s absolutely scintillating. She is so much more brilliant than this small town, and Betty Cooper is willing to give up her dreams of the universe for Veronica Lodge, because this girl right here is the only star she sees anyway.

Betty Cooper loves outer space. She loves the idea that there is something so great, so limitless, and so full of possibilities. She loves the idea that it is so so different from the small town of Riverdale. 

And Riverdale is exhausting. It’s suffocating. Existence is limited, in this small town; finite. The one thing Betty truly does enjoy about the small town though, is how she can look up and see the night sky without pollution. She can see the stars, and the planets, and the existence of something so so infinite. 

Her love for space is ridiculous, and she knows it. When she was five years old she was the only one in her kindergarten class who wanted to be an astronaut when she grew up (Jughead wanted to work at Pop’s, Archie wanted to be a football coach). When she was seven years old she glued glow-in-the dark stars on her ceiling in a to-scale pattern of the night sky. When she was eleven years old she bought three huge university level astronomy textbooks from Riverdale’s only used book store with her allowance money.

She’s the only one who thinks it’s insane. (Because it is.)

Everyone else thinks it’s adorable. How her school binders are plastered with stickers of the solar system, and how her homework is filled with doodles of stars. How she has pajamas with tiny aliens and astronauts with them, and how she’ll read zodiac posts off Tumblr and horoscopes off Cosmopolitan. 

But to be fair, they’re all in love with her. 

So Jughead is willing to skip his lunch dates with a Pop’s hamburger for a chance to listen to Betty talk about him being “such a Libra,” and Cheryl is willing to sacrifice her carefully-crafted image of being a stone-cold bitch for even a second if it means she’ll get to hear Betty talk on and on and on about how Pluto deserves to be a planet. Archie lets Betty doodle pictures of planets on his arms during class, and risks the jokes Reggie will undoubtedly make during football practice that afternoon. Veronica even lets Betty drag her to sit on the grass in her Burberry dress just to hear Betty talk to her about exploration rovers travelling through the solar system.

Betty Cooper thinks they’re all insane too, but she does not for a moment even consider the possibility that they don’t like outer space half as much as they like her. 

—-

Everyday at lunchtime, Betty Cooper sits at a picnic table under the big oak tree in the Riverdale High courtyard, where the light filters through the leaves to cast dancing shadows upon her body. And everyday, she has a packed paper bag lunch. She likes the routine.

She’s always joined by Kevin, whom at this point is probably the only person in the entire town who isn’t in love with the girl. Betty is quite obviously oblivious to that fact. 

Veronica oftentimes joins the two, her thighs pressed against Betty’s when they sit. She eats her fancy salads and updates them on all the newest Riverdale gossip. Sometimes Archie and Jughead join them as well, when they don’t have any football or hamburger-related obligations to tend to. Strangely enough, they’ve been having a lot more free time lately. Rarest of them all though, is when Cheryl takes a break from terrorizing students to sit down and have lunch with Betty. And honestly? She’s a lot more pleasant these days.

Kevin pretends he doesn’t notice the tension between any of them. He’s a saint, really. 

Today is one of the few days where everyone coincidentally decides to join Betty for lunch. These days are awkward, the tension in the air thicker than a Pop’s milkshake. And with Jughead’s distaste for most people, and most people’s distaste for Cheryl, Betty was the only one who really talked. Everyone else was more preoccupied, alternating between staring at Betty and glaring at each other. 

Betty simply chalks it all up to no one having a common interests to talk about, so she fills the silences with rants about Jupiter’s moons, and no one really minds. She doesn’t notice that it’s only awkward because they’re all in love with her. Kevin does, and he sits there with a knowing smile on his face, not saying a word.

In a last ditch effort to unite her friends, Betty suddenly bursts out a “hey does anyone want to go look at the stars with me this weekend, maybe? There’s a meteor shower that I really want to see.” She pauses, unsure of herself. “But if you don’t that’s totally okay too.”

Of course everyone thinks that’s a great idea, and soon’s there’s plans for the group to go to Sweetwater River that Saturday night, and Archie says his dad would probably let him take the truck out for a night. Jughead chimes in, saying he’ll bring burgers, and Veronica adds on with artisanal cupcakes. Cheryl rolls her eyes and says that her presence alone is enough of a gift. 

None of them are trying to impress one Betty Cooper. Most definitely not. 

—

Saturday evening, Betty sits in Archie’s dad’s old pickup truck like she’s done so many times in the past few years. She likes Archie. Enough, at least. After all, they’ve grown up together, and it’s not as if she hasn’t ever dreamt about having a future with him. Seeing him now, in a Riverdale High sweatshirt and well-worn jeans, she can’t really complain either way. He’s good enough. Great, even.

But then they pick up Veronica, with her eyes that sparkle almost as brightly as the stars do, and the only thing Betty can do when Veronica looks at her is gulp. Because suddenly good enough isn’t enough. Because Veronica is holding another box of the “yellow is for friendship” cupcakes, but this time they’re not yellow. They’re red, and Betty knows what the color red stands for, even without Veronica telling her.

Before Veronica came to Riverdale, Betty was okay with good enough. Sure, she dreamt about the universe and all the wonders outside of the small city, but she’s not a kid anymore, and dreams just simply aren’t reality. Then this girl comes along, and she’s absolutely scintillating. Or at least that’s what Kevin said. She is so much more brilliant than this small town, and Betty Cooper is willing to give up her dreams of the universe for Veronica Lodge, because this girl right here is the only star she sees anyway.

Soon, Archie’s truck pulls up to the driveway of the beautiful Thornhill Manor, where one Cheryl Blossom is standing on the front porch. Her sunglasses perched carefully atop her head, grinning like a cheshire cat. 

“Good evening, ladies and gentleman.” She looks pointedly at Betty, “Out of the passenger seat, pastel prep. I want to sit with All-American Archibald here.” 

“Cheryl, you do realize we’re going stargazing, right? Not much of a need for sunglasses,” Betty points out. Veronica snickers.

“It’s a fashion accessory,” she scoffs. “I take pride in looking good at all times. Not that you would know,” she shoots a glare at Veronica. “Plus, you two should be glad I’m here. Now you lesbians can continue getting it on, now that I’ve retired Betty to the backseat.”

There is not a single hint of jealousy in her voice. Not one. And she most definitely is not sitting in the front seat to distract herself from Betty’s presence. Definitely not. 

By the time they pick up Jughead and Kevin, they’re all sitting closely enough in the back row to the point where Betty is practically in Veronica’s lap. She’s just glad that the sun has set enough that no one can see her blush. 

—

The truck finally comes to stop by a clearing in the woods woods right by Riverdale’s iconic Sweetwater River with a direct view of the slowly darkening sky above them, and littered old cans of beer beneath their feet. Eeryone piles out of the cab and into the bed of the truck, waiting for the sun to set enough to see the meteor shower. The six people barely all fit into the small truck, and everyone’s just a laughing tangle of limbs. 

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Jughead pulls out a large take out bag of Pop’s burgers, fries, and a six pack of wine coolers. 

“Jughead!” Betty wants to chastise him, but she can’t help but buzz with excitement. “Where did you get these?”

The boy chuckles. “I have my ways, Betts.”

Cheryl rolls her eyes, and pops the top off of one of the coolers, taking a big gulp. “We’re going to need a lot more alcohol if I’m going to have to make it through a night of that.”

Kevin silently agrees.

The burgers are still warm though, and delicious as always. For once, everyone in the group is getting along (for the most part), Even if Cheryl has a monopoly on the alcohol. And Betty realizes she wouldn’t trade her life in Riverdale for anything. Not the stars, and not the universe.

She wouldn’t trade away Cheryl’s snide remarks, which to be quite fair, are now more amusing than rude. She wouldn’t trade away Archie’s laugh, or Jughead’s smile, or the even the way Veronica just looks at her. And then obviously there’s Kevin, the only person keeping Betty sane, with the knowledge that she truly isn’t.

Slowly, the party moves from the clearing to the riverside, and meteors move with them, across the sky. Enough shooting stars wishes for every person in Riverdale. Betty’s only wish is that nothing ever changes.

Their sneakers crunch across the coarse sand shores, voices and laughter echoing off into the distance. They aren’t drunk, but they’re definitely happier than they would be without the help of some carefully crafted alcoholic beverages.

“Who wants to go swimming?” Veronica asks, giggling between her words. No one answers, but she’s already barefoot and running toward the water, various articles of clothing forming a path behind her as she sheds them, piece by piece, splashing into the river in just her undergarments.

“Guess whe don’t really have a choice, do we?” Archie looks toward the girl in the distance, defeated.

“Um, yes we do?” Panicked, Betty looks around to her friends. Swimming in the freezing river in her underpants was not on the itenerary.

Cheryl snorts. “Don’t be a prude, Betty.”

“You don’t have to do anything, Betts,” interjects Jughead. 

Veronica, now fully in the river calls out to her less adventerous companions. “Well are you guys going to join me or not?” 

“Well I’m not going to stay here with you lot,” Cheryl shrugs, and starts walking toward the water.

Betty sighs, looking at Veronica and the way the moonlight glistens on her body. “I’m not drunk enough for this.”

“Under the front seat of the car,” Archie shouts to her, not even waiting for a response before running toward the water. Kevin follows him, seeing no other choice, but he’s exasperated still. 

Jughead rolls his eyes, and supposes he might as well sit on the dock by the edge of the water at the very least. But he maintains that the hat stays on.

“The stars are beautiful tonight,” Veronica says, after the cold water having sobered her up a little bit. “But you know who looks even more beautiful?”

In almost perfect unison, Archie, Cheryl, Jughead, and of course, Veronica herself, said “Betty Cooper.”

And everyone freezes.

“This is riveting,” Kevin gasps. “I can’t breathe.

**Author's Note:**

> notriverdale.tumblr.com


End file.
